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womanhood

Father Seraphim Rose once said, “Pornography is the devil’s iconography.” These days, the world of porn has become so exploitive of women that the founder of Hustler Magazine has said the industry has gone to far. The women are subjected to acts of force, gross acts, and violence that are way too graphic and distasteful to describe. To make matters worse, kids are vewing such things online with no safeguards on computers. Grown men can visit these sites in public libraries. In one anti-porn video, a porn user professed that such movies show men what women want. While it can be argued that the girls who do porn do so in their own free will, I doubt that a naked 19 or 20 year old young lady has much decision making power in a room with two or more men, especially if any of them are old enough to be her father.

Aside from such extreme forms of porn, there is a type of imagry I call, “chicken porn” (porn for men who are too afraid to look at the real thing). Images of women in sexually suggestive clothing and poses that are found in mainstream magazines. Anyone who has seen the recent cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue can understand what I am talking about. A young lady wearing a bikini swimsuit at a beach or pool is not unusual nor necessarily offensive. But, to have her pose pulling down her bikini is uncalled for. Women don’t do this in normal visits to beaches and pools. This was done only to encourage men and boys to want to see more of her body. For the porn industry, such images seve as business cards for the more “reputable” companies and the more rancid ones as well.

The Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, is praised for her ever virginity. In traditional Byzantine iconography, she is clothed in a blue garment and head covering to show her humanity. Covering these clothes is a red garment over her head and body to show that she has put on divinity. With few exceptions (such as the Annunciation and Dormition), Mary is holding the Christ Child in one arm with her other hand motioning to Him. Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and the first wave of Protestants hold this image in high regard as the highest saintly model of womanhood.

Mary of Egypt was far from being a virgin. But, ancient Christianity holds her in very high regards as a prototype for repentance. In most icons, she is all skin and bones wearing only the black outer garment given to her by the monk Zosimas. After repenting of her sexual depravity, Mary lived in the desert east of the Jordan River alone placing repentance more important than food, shelter, or clothing. While no one today is called to that extreme, we see in her that turning one’s life around from wickedness to righteousness is not a one time act. We are to be consistent and humble; willing to forsake even basic comforts for the heavenly kingdom.

Radical Reformed Protestantism and modern Evangelicalism tells society that holy icons are mere idols and it is not fit for Christians to revere the people represented in these images. As America and Western Europe is dominated by this mindframe, it is no coincidence that porn dominates these nations. By taking away the holy images of womanhood, it is inevidable that Satan has all but won the icon war by flooding our word with hard and soft core images of female exploitation. According to the Desert Fathers, lust is the hardest of the sins for people to avoid. Holy images of female saints are tools to help us overcome wicked thoughts. What we set our eyes toward becomes etched in our minds. If you take away a carpenter’s tools, it is very difficut for him to build a proper house. Iconoclasim has been a total failure in helping create a society where a woman’s purity, either as a virgin or wife, is honored and respected.

People who struggle with distorted sexuality would do well to look into the Orthodox Church not because we are perfect (oh, that we were). But, because we encourage men and women to use the examples of holy men and women as well as the Bible to overcome their sins. In our great cloud of witnesses are saints who struggled with their urges and passions just like we do today. Their stories tell us that there is victory through Jesus Christ. The victory may not be quick nor easy. But, if we endure even to the end, we will win because our Lord won the battle against death and corruption with His death and resurrection. This isn’t something that we only read in the scriptures, speak in prayers, an sing in songs. This is what we behold in our eyes as well.